You can't swim?
by That Random Writer
Summary: Mitchie would do anything for the one she loved, but when staring death in the face you begin to wonder if it's all worth it. Do you hang on, or fade away. A tough thing to consider, especially when you're completely submerged under a pile of freezing cold water. Not to mention the thunder storm threatening to kill you with one strike of lightning.


**A/N: I'm back with another one-shot. That last one didn't get any hate, so I figured I would post this. It's 3,313 words, so I think it's my longest one yet. Let me know what you think of it. I also have a twitter, so if you want follow me. Twitter: ThtRandomWriter**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except for the plot.**

The water rushed in fast; soaking the floor, couches, and anything else that happened to cross its path. Mitchie panicked; grabbing at anything she could to keep her from going along with the current that rushed to the back of her home. She was going as fast as her body allowed, but with the water already at knees length, it wasn't very fast at all.

She just kept repeating the same thing to herself over and over: "Alex." She had to get to the sleeping girl on the opposite side of the house. The water was rising quickly, and it didn't look like it would be stopping anytime soon.

Daylight was already fading to black, and with this power-outage going on it was going to become impossible to get even remotely close to Alex. Mitchie thrashed around frantically looking for something she could float on or paddle with to get to Alex quicker. Nothing seemed to suffice.

With the water now at her hips, Mitchie figured she could at least swim in it, but she'd have to be careful. The higher the water, the more things that floated around in her home. Without another thought she plunged in. Once under she opened her eyes and began swimming. She had to stop occasionally to let things like chairs pass by, and come up for air every so often.

Soon she made it to her room door. She lifted herself out of the water and put her hand on the door knob. With the water at her torso she began to worry. She pushed on the door as hard as she could, but it wouldn't open. Her heart beat accelerated, and she had to remind herself to stay calm. Panicking wouldn't help anyone at this moment.

Mitchie remembered hearing something on TV about not being able to open a car door until the car was completely submerged in water so she assumed the same rules apply with the door, but with Alex inside that room, she couldn't wait that long. She dipped back into the water and swam as fast as she could to the laundry room located just around the corner.

She vaguely remembered that her dad left a hammer near the washing machine when he hung up something for her mom. She saw the item she was looking for and wasted no time in grabbing it and taking another quick breath above the water, before rushing back to the room that held Alex hostage.

Mitchie took a breath before hammering at the bottom of the door. She knew that she wasn't nearly as strong or fast under the water as above, but she had to keep hammering...for Alex. Soon enough a hole big enough for Mitchie to just squeeze through was made to the door. Mitchie was pushed back into the wall behind her as the water rushed into her part of the house.

She reached into the door, and pulled herself through. She felt a pain surge through her arm but ignored it. Once in the room she swam up and again and took a huge breath. Mitchie squinted her eyes, before rubbing them and proceeded to look around the room.

Things were floating around everywhere. She didn't see Alex, but then again there was a huge lump on her bed that must be something. She swam to it, the water now on her neck, and jumped on the bed. She pulled the covers back to reveal Alex's sleeping form completely oblivious to the danger around her.

Mitchie didn't want to disrupt the girl, but she knew even a seconds hesitation would cause future problems. With that thought in her mind she shook the girl.

**Mitchie's POV**

"Alex! Alex, come on. Please Alex, it's not safe." I pleaded for her to wake up as I shook her frantically. I was freezing cold and the bed was nearing the ceiling, meaning the water was getting higher. My time was running thin. "Alex!" I shouted one last time.

Her body jolted up in a second. Her eyes were wide and she had the most confused look on her face. "Mitchie, what's wrong?" Her voice was hoarse. I could hear the strain in it. "Alex, there's not a lot of time to explain, but the house is flooding, and we have to get out." She went from confused and groggy, to terrified and hopeless.

"Now, I can get us out, but we have to hurry, and we are going to have to swim in some pretty cold temperature." I pulled her arm and I jumped back into the water. It had risen significantly since I jumped onto the bed. "Okay, this way!," I shouted over the noises of rushing water, and a horrific thunderstorm outside. Lightning was the only thing helping me see right now, and that wasn't exactly a good thing. If anything struck this house we would die instantly.

A weak, muffled, "Mitchie," pulled me from my thoughts. I turned to see Alex looking down at the water below her trembling. "What is it Alex?" We didn't have time for any fear, but something about her made me have to take the second to spare.

She hung her head low and whispered something. "I...I can't swim." I almost didn't catch what she said. "What? Alex, are you kidding me?" I know I shouldn't get mad at her, it wasn't her fault. We lived in New York, you didn't need to know how to swim here, even in the summer no one really swam.

The only reason I know how is because I came from California. "I'm sorry." I suddenly felt bad. Poor girl had been peacefully sleeping and is now having death thrown in her face. "Don't apologize Alex, it's not your fault, I'm sorry. Just...get on." There was no time for arguing, so I did the only logical thing I could think of.

She climbed on my back and I instructed her to be prepared to go under at any moment. "Grab the hammer," I shouted out before completely submerging our bodies in water. It was defiantly harder to move with the extra weight, but I couldn't stop. I swam around everything in the way, and made it to the door before I realized how idiotic I am. We both weren't going to fit through that little hole.

I swam up for a quick breath of air and looked around. The window! I swam over to it and came up for a breath again. "Hammer!," I shouted to Alex. The water was now only a foot away from our roof. "Alex get on my shoulders. It will keep you above the water while I go under and hammer the window." She complied quickly, and wasted no time.

I hurriedly went under and got to work. I had to move to the side to pull up the shade, and then I had to actually break through the glass. I made sure Alex was secure before I let the window have it. I hit that window over, and over again, but not even a scratch appeared.

I resurfaced for air, causing Alex to squish against the ceiling. "Ugh, Mitch!" She whined as I took a breath. "Sorry." It was quick, but again I was limited on time. I went back under and hit the window as hard as I could. Repeated strikes. Harsh blows. Nothing happened.

Only the slightest crack went straight across the window, in a jagged line. Before I could even strike again, I felt Alex's feet start frantically kicking. I looked up and saw her panicking. Without thinking I let go of the hammer and swam up to her.

"What's wrong?" I asked suddenly. "The water; it's rising too quick. We're not going to make it." She looked so sad in that moment. I looked around noticing that our heads were pressed up against the ceiling and the water was at our necks.

Her legs were wrapped around my waist to keep herself from drowning. I placed both my hands on her cheeks and stared into her lost eyes. We leaned in, and our lips connected.

_How do you stare death in the face? How can you watch as your life slips away from you? How do you deal with knowing that you're going to die in a mere few seconds? It can't be that hard, I mean looking at it all, we all know we're going to die eventually. If you think about it, we stare at death every day. We all know that one day we will hit that age number, and our life will just come crumbling down before us. So we all feel that moment of raw, pure fear. We experience it at old age, and some of us experience it a little too early. Like us. I think it's harder, looking at death when you're younger, or at least when it isn't 'your time,' because you haven't experienced anything yet. At least when your old you have lived, and fulfilled everything you possibly could. It's easier to let go of your life, because there really isn't anywhere you can go anymore. You might even be, in a way, sick of hanging on. One man once asked if it is easier to be dead than alive. A stupid question really. What people seem to forget is that once you're dead, you have no thought process. I think people just can't wrap their mind around that concept, because if you have no thought process, than death isn't peaceful. It's nothing, no feeling, no emotion. That isn't peace, it's just...death. At least when you're alive you can feel. You can feel pain, regret, sadness, but you can also feel joy, excitement, __love__. These are the most complex emotions known to man, and...I don't think I'm ready to go a lifetime without them. _And that's when something inside me snapped.

I pulled away from her lips, and rested my forehead against hers. "I love you Alex, and I promise, this isn't how it's going to end." I went to retreat back into the water when I felt my arm being tugged. I turned to her, "I love you too Mitch." I nodded my head and once again found myself under the water, but this time I had to hurry.

I went to the crack in the window and punched it. Now I'm not going to lie, it's hurt like hell, but I had to keep trying. I began kicking it, and it started working. More cracks began to form, but when I looked up Alex was now under water too.

There was no more air. I wanted to panic. I wanted to scream. I wanted to wake up from this nightmare, but it was real, and I had to keep fighting. Knowing that there was no more air, suddenly made me crave for more. I watched as Alex stared down at me, I could tell how hard this was for her. She was freaking out, kicking, and thrashing about.

I knew she was making it worse, but I had to focus, before we both faint...and die. I retrieved the hammer from the floor and banged on the window. More cracks formed but nothing broke. I became hopeless. I could feel the air slowly slipping from my lungs...I was out of time.

I felt something on my head and I looked to see Alex's lifeless body on top of mine. No, it...it can't end like this. I grew furious. I pushed her body of mine and charged at the window. I banged, smashed, hit, kicked, and did anything else I thought would help. It didn't budge.

I knew it was the end, so I grabbed Alex's body, and held her tight. I leaned us both up against the window and I felt it in my chest. I was out of air. Noises filled my ears, and suddenly I was met with the feel of pressure, and pain on my back, as well as on my front, but most importantly air in my lungs.

I gasped, and took in air. I felt us being moved as more water poured out of the window, but I didn't care. We could have gone straight into traffic with the flow of this water, as long as we were out of that house, away from the water.

It must have messed with my brain, for a moment anyway, because I never thought to check on Alex until we stopped moving. I pushed her off of me and sat up. I looked down to see her closed eyes, and emotionless face. Could it be? Did she... I didn't want to believe it. I tore my eyes away and stilled. I was once again helpless, I was once again vulnerable, and I was once again...out of time.

Hours. That's how long I must have been sitting next to her unmoving body. No, it couldn't have been that long. Minuets, days, I couldn't tell. I had no sense of time. I felt...gone. I wasn't in my body, I was looking at it. I felt numb. I looked to Alex's depressing form, and it all hit me at once.

I couldn't help myself and I instantly began sobbing uncontrollably. That's when I attempted to save her. I pushed on her stomach, and blew into her mouth. Water was spit into my mouth and I pulled back, she began spitting up water and gasping for more air.

Once she calmed we stared at each other both wide eyed. She pulled me into her and we hugged. "You did it," she whispered into my neck. Her hot breath made me realize just how freezing I was. "I promised I would."

We stayed in our embrace for another moment before I pulled back and stared at her again, but happiness was replaced with worry when I saw blood on her cheek. "Alex...your face is bleeding." She quickly sat up and felt around her face, which now held an expression of confusion. She then began patting the rest of her body.

"Mitch, I'm not cut, or even in pain. That's not my blood." Now I was confused. She grabbed my arm harshly and inspected it almost urgently. "Shit, Mitchie! What the hell happened to your arm?" I looked at my arm and it was dripping red all over.

Everything was covered, from my outfit, to the floor around us. "I think I cut it going through the door, that's when I felt pain." I told her now feeling dizzy. "Okay, first lay down. Now, what are you talking about?" She laid my head down on the pavement and took off her hoodie to wrap it around my arm.

"Okay, so you fell asleep watching the movie with me, and I had to pee, so I left. It was raining really hard outside, and I guess since it's been raining non-stop for 5 days the lake overflowed or something and the next thing I know, water is rushing in from all directions. I made my way back to you, and had to bust open part of the door with a hammer. I must have cut myself." Now that I was staying in one spot, and could actually focus without adrenaline coursing through my veins, I felt the ache that ran through out my whole body.

Everything hurt. Alex tried talking to me, and keeping me awake, but I was slowly slipping out of consciousness. I only made out one thing. "Mitchie, it's going to be okay. The ambulance are going to be here soon, but you got to stay strong. You made it this far, don't let me go now. I love you." And then, things just sort of faded to black.

White flooded my eyes, and a steady beeping filled my ears. I blinked a couple of times, before I tried to move around, but that hurt way too much. I groaned in annoyance. I slowly opened my eyes and was met by the sight of my dad holding my hand.

I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed not seeing Alex, but I quickly recovered and made my presence known. "Dad? What happened?" His head shot up immediately at my words. "Mitchie! Thank goodness, we were all so worried about you!" He pulled me into a bone-crushing hug, and I groaned. "Ow. Dad!" He pulled back and apologized.

I asked him the basic questions going around anyone's mind when they wake up at the hospital: how did I get here?, when can I leave?, blah, blah, blah. He explained to me that the ambulance had already been on their way to check on the flooding houses in our area, so that's how I got here.

I don't have any permanent damage, or injuries, just slight bruising...everywhere. They also gave my arm stitches. "Dad, not that I'm not super excited to see you, but where's Alex?" After an hour of resting he finally let me talk about seeing Alex. It took another hour, but he soon took me her room, right across the hallway.

"Hey Alex, how you feeling?," I asked as I poked my head into her room. She looked surprised to see me. "Mitchie! I'm so glad you're okay." I walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "What do you mean, I should be saying the same to you, you were the one who almost died, and to be honest...your voice sounds like crap." She laughed, but it was true. She sounded tired.

"Mitchie, the only reason I'm in this hospital bed is because of you." I'm not going to lie, that one stung a little bit. "Oh." Was all I could really muster. "Mitchie, what I meant was you lost a lot of blood, don't you know who donated?" I eyed her weirdly, but soon she held up her arm showing me her IV. "You...you gave me blood?" I asked extremely shocked at what I was hearing.

"Yeah, you lost so much, and I had to give so much, so they said I should rest here for today. Plus, we have the same blood type. Other than felling a little weak I'm fine, just sprained my wrist," she laughed casually, and lifted up her other arm revealing it sitting in some kind of guard thing that you could get at Walgreens.

"So, when do you get out?" I asked as I sat down next to her bed. "I'm clear to go tomorrow. You?" She shifted around a little bit before settling on an upright sitting position. "Same, I might even be able to go home tonight...not that I have a home to go to." She placed her hand over mine, and offered an apologetic smile.

"There's always my place." Alex lived about a mile away from me, far enough to not even be touched by the flood. "Thanks." She nodded, and smiled at me. "So, what are you doing tomorrow?" Random question, but that reminds me. "I have a date." She seemed surprised at that, and slightly disappointed, even if she tried to hide it.

"Oh...with who?" I laced out fingers together and kissed her knuckles. "You. Go on a date with me Alex?" She smiled at me, but it soon dropped. "Mitchie I would love to, but-" I cut her off quick. "Alex, I know I just lost my house, and I know we almost died, but we also realized that we love each other. It wasn't just the heat of the moment, and let's face it, I'm going to be living with you soon, if you don't say yes now you'll have to eventually." She laughed at me and leaned in to peck my lips.

"So I guess that's a yes?" She shoved me and laughed with me. "Yes, I'll go on a date with you." I smiled bright, and pulled her into a kiss.

**A/N: Being completely honest, I hate the ending. I couldn't seem to write the dialogue to save my life. The whole hospital scene doesn't sit right with me, actually, but I already wrote it, why reject it now? Anyway, thanks for reading, and let me know what you thought.**


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